Cloth diapers are specialty at Mother Earth Baby in Watertown

WATERTOWN  Parents who havent thought about using cloth diapers for their babies may change their minds, thanks to a diaper-wash service offered by Mother Earth Baby, which opened in late March at 210 Franklin St.

The store, which will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2:30 p.m. today, has launched a cloth diaper service for customers in Jefferson County to expand its program already offered in Oswego, Wayne, Onondaga and Madison counties, said Nathan S. Emmons, who co-owns the business with his wife, Lisa J. Started in 2009, Mother Earth Baby also has locations in Oswego and North Syracuse.

For $22 a week, customers can sign up for a cloth-diaper program in which diapers are washed weekly using industrial washers and dryers at an Oswego location, Mr. Emmons said. Dirty cloth diapers are picked up by staff at customers homes weekly on a designated day, and clean ones are delivered at the same time. Diapers are sanitized and pH-balance tests are conducted for cleanliness, ensuring that babies are protected from rashes. The business supplies cloth diapers for customers, free-of-charge, during the time they are enrolled in the program.

We keep about 200 diapers in a rotation for each customer, and we generally deliver about 100 a week, said Mr. Emmons, a Sackets Harbor native who resides in Oswego with his wife.

Cloth diapers sold at the store are priced at $9 to $25 apiece, Mr. Emmons said.

Children in cloth diapers have diaper rash far less frequently, and they tend to be potty-trained faster, he said, adding that they also have environmental benefits. Disposable diapers dont decompose for about 500 years.

Workshops will eventually be hosted at the Watertown store to teach parents about cloth diapering, breast-feeding and other topics, Mr. Emmons said. To create room for an educational area, the store may expand by consolidating with a neighboring space on Franklin Street that is vacant, he said. Washington Street Properties has offered to lease the vacant space to the business.

We may be expanding to provide even more products and services in the near future, Mr. Emmons said, adding that a wall shared by the two spaces would be knocked down under the plan, roughly doubling the stores size.

Hours of operation at Mother Earth Baby are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Follow the business on Facebook by searching the keyword Mother Earth Baby-Watertown. Call the store at 681-6696.

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